Special Needs & Gifted

Homeschooling a child with a Public School IEP?: If your child has an IEP at the time you withdraw him or her to homeschool you should send IEP Withdrawal Letter along with your Notice of Intent or your withdrawal form from the Independent School you enrolled with. This sample letter was created by HSLDA and has specific instructions for its use.

The inclusion of these entries on this bulletin board does not constitute an endorsement by Christian Home Educators of Colorado of the program, organization, or tutor. It is the parent’s responsibility to investigate who will be involved in their children’s education. We encourage parents to thoroughly investigate a potential program and to stay involved on an ongoing basis with their children’s teachers. You should also ask for references and talk to others who have used these organizations/persons’ talents.

Services from the public schools: The schools are not obliged to provide services unless you follow their stipulations, so if they require enrollment, there is nothing in the law to make them provide services. However some schools will provide the service if you are enrolled in a private school (such as the CHEC Independent School) if that private school does not provide such services (which CHEC Independent School does not), some school districts might the provide services – but once again, it is probably up to the school district.

Prescription for Success is a cognitive learning center in Parker, CO, that specializes in treating Dyslexia, AD/ADHD, Slow Processing, Auditory and Visual Processing problems, Poor Memory, Sensory Processing Disorder, and much more. Our comprehensive testing will pinpoint “WHY” your child is having learning difficulties. A personalized, intensive home treatment plan is developed for the client. K-Adult students are welcome. Achieve your learning potential at Prescription For Success.

Services for children with ADHD. We offer a viable and effective strategy which is an alternative to medication. A program which was initially designed for NASA to help pilots keep their focus and concentration on lengthy missions has also been found to improve focus and concentration in people with AD/HD as well. This program is now available at the Fast Focusing Center. In addition to this program, Debera Jensen also works at our center with children and adults with learning disabilities, anxiety, depression, trauma, closed head injuries and more. Our staff psychologist, Dr. Steven Stockdale, as well as Debera and her husband, Alan, are available to speak at meetings or gatherings to parents in your community.

Achievement Products for Children
www.specialkidszone.com
Achievement Products for Children offers a wide selection of high quality therapy products that help special needs children overcome daily challenges and achieve their full potential. For more than 30 years, theyve been a leading provider of pediatric rehabilitation equipment. The products make caring for and teaching special needs children with physical challenges, brain injury, sensory integration disorder, and cognitive learning disabilities easier.

Books and Information

Brain Balance Achievement Center
303-278-1780 – Goldengolden@brainbalancecenters.com
We are a hemispheric based learning center that works with families who's children struggle with ADHD, Asperger's, Autism, Learning Disorders and Sensory Issues. We offer a multi-modal approach that includes sensory, motor, academic stimulation as well as dietary changes. This is a program that does not rely on drugs, psychotherapy or medical procedures.
Credentials: Supplemental Learning Center

Informal Assessments/Tests

Informal assessments are quick checks that parent-teachers can make either weekly or quarterly to document a child’s growth in a particular area over time. This allows you, the parent-teacher, to see if the child is retaining the information or skills and/or if your method of instruction or intervention is being effective. One example of this type of informal assessment is the Quick Word Recognition Inventory. It can be administered to your child in 15 minutes and is best if given quarterly to show your child’s growth in word recognition/decoding skills. It will also help you determine an appropriate grade level placement for reading instruction.

Another easy, informal reading assessment that can be done weekly is a fluency rate on oral reading. For this, the child is asked to read aloud a passage of text for one minute (timed). After one minute, the child stops reading, then the parent-teacher calculates the number of words read and records the words correct per minute. If this is done weekly, the child can chart his fluency rate and hopefully watch it increase! This technique can be done using either a familiar passage or what is called a “cold read” on material that is new to the student. Note, this should be done on material that is at the student’s instructional level for reading, not independent (easy) or frustration level. Instructional level means the child can read the text with 90–94% accuracy.

If you are a member of HSLDA the Brigance Diagnostic Inventory Test is available to rent
The Special Needs Department has Brigance Diagnostic Inventory Test kits available for members to rent. Parents or professionals may administer these tests to determine what skills a child has or has not mastered. These tests are also helpful in determining goals and objectives, mapping out a plan of needed instruction for the year, and for tracking growth/progress from one year to the next. These tests are also widely used in private and public schools for developing individual education plans. So they are a good fit for parents who are homeschooling children with special needs, as these tests can help you in writing your child’s Student Education Plan, should you choose to do so. More information about testing special needs children is here. http://www.hslda.org/strugglinglearner/sn_testing.asp